The Rules of the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China (“the Rules”) were promulgated on 15 Jun. 2001, and were amended twice respectively in 2002 and 2010. The latest revision entered into force on 1 Feb. 2010.

There are 123 articles in total, which aim to stipulate the mechanism how the government handle patent matters.

The Rules are divided into eight chapters, including General Provisions, Application for a Patent, Examination and Approval of Patent Application, Re-examination of Patent Application and Invalidation of Patent Rights, Compulsory License of Patent Implementation, Reward and Remuneration to Inventors or Designers of Service Invention-creation, Protection of Patent Right, Patent Registration and the Official Gazette for Patents , Fees, Special Provisions on International Application and Supplementary Provisions.

The key points of the Rules are as follows:

1.The Patent Administration Department under the State Council (“the State Patent Office”) is the regulatory authority in this area.

2.All documents submitted in accordance with the Patent Law of the People’s Republic of China and the Rules shall be in Chinese.

3.Where any entity or individual applies to a foreign country for a patent for an invention or utility model completed in China, it shall request the State Patent Office to conduct confidentiality examination.

4.The applicant shall submit written patent application materials to the State Patent Office, and may entrust a patent agency to apply for patent and handle other patent matters with the State Patent Office.

5.After the State Patent Office has examined the patent application and issued the notice on the grant of the patent right, the applicant shall go through the registration procedures within two months upon receiving the notice. If the applicant has gone through the registration procedures on schedule, the State Patent Office shall issue the applicant a patent certificate.

6.If the applicant is not satisfied with the decision of the State Patent Office to reject the application, he or she may apply to the Patent Re-examination Board for re-examination. The Patent Reexamination Board is composed of technical experts and legal experts designated by the State Patent Office.

7.The governments of provinces, autonomous regions and municipalities directly under the central government, as well as the governments of municipalities divided into districts with heavy workload of patent administration and available processing capacity, may establish departments for the patent administration (“local patent offices”), and the State Patent Office shall provide professional guidance to local patent offices in handling patent infringement disputes, investigating and handling patent counterfeiting, and mediating patent disputes.